The Weather in France
France is the largest country in Europe, over twice as large as the UK, with around the same population of just over 60 million. There are still endless areas of unspoilt countryside and long natural beaches - particularly on the Atlantic coast - to be enjoyed. Its Atlantic, Channel and Mediterranean coastlines, coupled with the Pyrenees, Alps, Massif Central highlands and inland Continental plains account for distinctive climatic zones.
There are huge temperature differences between Mediterranean and Continental climatic zones in winter - and sometimes huge temperature variations within the same area during the same day. The absolute record for temperature variation throughout the same day in one place is attributed to an area in the north of the Massif Central with a variation of 40° Centigrade - just over 100° Fahrenheit - on a summer day in 1885. Mountainous areas are of course often subject to sudden changes in the weather.
British readers might note that the Cévennes area, which is very sparsely populated, on the south-eastern edge of the Massif Central in southern France, is reckoned to be the wettest area. The landscape in France is probably the most varied in Europe with the Atlantic lowlands and Continental lowlands running from the Loire to the Vosges area, hilly areas mainly to the north of the French Alps, the Alps and the Pyrenees, and the sub-Alps mountainous areas in parts of the South of France and Corsica. Following the Tour de France on television throughout July gives an armchair-view of France.
